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EXCLUSIVE – NEW LUGAR AD CALLS MOURDOCK A RECKLESS GAMBLER: With one week left until the Republican Senate primary, Indiana incumbent Richard Lugar is going on the air today with his hardest-hitting ad yet targeting Richard Mourdock’s tenure as state Treasurer. “Bad judgment, bad decisions,” the male narrator says at the top of the 30-second spot, called Truth. “Mourdock gambled Hoosier pensions on junk bonds, wasted millions covering up his mistake and risked thousands of Hoosier jobs. Richard Mourdock has a record of failure. And his ethics?” Snippets from a handful of news clips on the homestead deductions and the campaign’s misuse of the state GOP database circulate. The end: “Richard Mourdock. Don’t Be Fooled.” Watch: http://bit.ly/IS3pZY.

“SWISS BANK ACCOUNT” – OBAMA AD ATTACKS “OVERSEAS” ROMNEY: A new 30-second commercial – which will air on broadcast television in Virginia, Ohio and Iowa – begins by dismissing the new Americans for Prosperity ad attacking the president as “more false attacks from Big Oil” and notes that President Obama’s energy initiatives have created jobs in America. Then a narrator says, “What about Mitt Romney? As a corporate CEO, he shipped American jobs to places like Mexico and China. As Governor, he outsourced state jobs to a call center in India. He’s still pushing tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. It’s just what you expect from a guy who had a Swiss Bank Account.” Chicago is not disclosing the size of the buy, but a media-tracking source tells Alex Burns that they’ve reserved $458,883 in airtime in Ohio, $88,455 in Iowa and $72,845 in Virginia for ads running May 1 to May 7. An accompanying research document from the reelection campaign to back up each of those claims is meant to put Boston on defense. Watch: http://bit.ly/JmLEO3.

FIRST LOOK – TRUMKA TO ATTACK ROMNEY FOR SELLING OUT WORKERS: AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka plans to go hard after the presumptive Republican nominee during his address to the Building & Construction Trades Department’s 2012 Legislative Conference this morning, the day after President Obama addressed the membership. “Brothers and sisters, we can’t afford politicians like Mitt Romney who tell jokes about closing factories and killing jobs,” he plans to say, according to prepared remarks. “If Mitt Romney is elected president, I guarantee you we’ll be back in a recession.” The top labor leader will outline his plans to use these elections “to build a true working class movement” that is able to help friends and “hold our enemies to account – no matter which party they come from!” He’ll also call for massive investments in infrastructure.

HIS ATTACK ON ROMNEY: “Listen, the truth is that Mitt Romney made his fortune selling out America’s workers. The private equity company he founded bankrupted businesses and stashed money overseas. He laughs about being unemployed while living a life of privilege, and he guards his past tax returns so we don’t know how much money he’s made from his ugly practices. Mitt thinks the way to fix our economy is for him—and mega-millionaires like him—to get even more money. That’s why he wants to cut taxes for the wealthy, and for profitable corporations. After all, he says—and I quote—‘Corporations are people!’ Yes, we know whose side Mitt Romney is on.”

HIS PRAISE FOR OBAMA: “…We also know that when there’s a choice between a fair shake for the 99 percent and a special break for the 1 percent, President Obama stands on our side. When America was on the brink of a second Great Depression, President Obama persuaded Congress to pass a recovery program that saved or created 3.6 million jobs. After the big banks crashed the economy, President Obama demanded Wall Street reform—enacted over the objection of almost every Republican in Congress—to clean up the mess caused by decades of deregulation."

MASSACHUSETTS SENATE – WARREN IS 1/32ND CHEROKEE: “Desperately scrambling to validate Democrat Elizabeth Warren’s Native American heritage amid questions about whether she used her minority status to further her career, the Harvard Law professor’s campaign last night finally came up with what they claim is a Cherokee connection — her great-great-great-grandmother,” today’s Boston Herald reports. “‘She would be 1⁄32nd of Elizabeth Warren’s total ancestry,’ noted genealogist Christopher Child said, referring to the candidate’s great-great-great-grandmother, O.C. Sarah Smith, who is listed on an Oklahoma marriage certificate as Cherokee. Smith is an ancestor on Warren’s mother’s side, Child said. The missing link comes after Warren’s embattled campaign faced sharp questions about her Native American background in the wake of Herald stories that showed both Harvard Law School and Warren herself had touted her tribal lineage and claimed she was a member of a minority for years.” Herald story: http://bit.ly/K2KsGr. The Herald’s front page: http://bit.ly/ISyGMD.

HOW IT’S PLAYING: The flap is firing up the activist and donor base for Brown, giving him cover for breaking with GOP orthodoxy. Allahpundit writes on Hot Air: “The newest front in the ‘war on women,’ apparently: Calling a female pol out on her self-serving B.S…Bottom line: If she’s serious about her heritage, why stop acknowledging it in the mid-90s? There’s no obvious explanation.” (http://bit.ly/IRJyIZ) Veteran Boston reporter Andy Hiller said that the flap is "undermining Warren's credibility” in his 2-minute report for WHDH: http://bit.ly/IS9shh.

MORE – BROWN SAYS 23-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER INSURED UNDER HEALTH LAW: “Brown, who won office vowing to be the 41st vote to block President Obama’s health care law, and who has since voted three times to repeal it, acknowledged Monday that he takes advantage of one of its components to keep his elder daughter on his congressional health insurance plan,” The Boston Globe’s Glen Johnson reports. “‘Of course I do,’ Brown said. He said that element of the law, which has proven widely popular despite a split over the broader measure, can be provided by states.” A source tells Score that both the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Massachusetts Democratic Party will pounce on this: http://bo.st/Iq3d4j.

SCOOPLET – KASICH TO SPEAK AT CPAC CHICAGO: The American Conservative Union will announce today that Ohio Gov. John Kasich will be a featured speaker at CPAC Chicago on June 8. It’s fitting with ACU’s push to give the day-long regional event a Midwestern flavor. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie committed last week. Here is the forthcoming press release on Kasich: http://bit.ly/IiEIlM. Here is a three-page PDF with a draft list of speakers and breakout sessions: http://bit.ly/JyIUS9.

** As Obama stays mum on Chen, Balderas goes on the air and Paul Ryan gives Jon Karl an interview in the backseat of his SUV, here’s POLITICO’s Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF BIN LADEN RAID –

WHAT ROMNEY IS UP TO: The Republican candidate will appear with Rudy Giuliani at a midtown New York City fire station. http://politi.co/nKs8EW

WHAT OBAMA IS UP TO – STAYING IN THE WHITE HOUSE: No public events scheduled, but the White House says Obama is sitting down with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta at 4:30 p.m. Jay Carney briefs at 3.

ROMNEY SAYS HE WOULD HAVE KILLED BIN LADEN: "Of course" he would have made the same decision as Obama, Romney told reporters on the rope line yesterday. "Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order.” http://bit.ly/IncKrh

OBAMA HITS ROMNEY AS INCONSISTENT: “I hardly think that you’ve seen any excessive celebration taking place here,” Obama said at a joint White House press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda yesterday. Obama continued with a Romney jab: “I assume that people meant what they said when they said it. That’s been at least my practice. I said that I would go after bin Laden if we had a clear shot at him and I did. If there are others who said one thing and now suggest they would do something else, I’d go ahead and let them explain.” http://politi.co/J9Pn3u

MULLEN WORRIES ABOUT EXCESSIVE CELEBRATION: Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen told NBC’s Brian Williams he worries “a great deal” that the Osama bin Laden raid will get “spun into election politics.” Mullen’s comments are part of an interview for tonight’s special, which airs at 9 ET/8 Central. “Well, I worry about it, just because it's the political season,” he says. “And from my perspective, the president's support, the decision that he made, and obviously, the result stand alone in terms of the kind of call presidents have to make and he made it. I do worry a great deal that this time of year that somehow this gets spun into election politics.” http://on.msnbc.com/KB3iU8

TOP ROMNEY TALKER—TIES TO ’08 CAMPAIGN HELPED LAUNCH PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM: Much has been written before about Solamere Capital – the private equity fund started by Tagg Romney after the 2008 campaign with the help of his dad’s major donors despite his lack of private equity experience. Expect another round of buzz now that the New York Times is splashing a double-bylined story about it on A1. The story notes that “the small firm…is in line to collect at least $16.8 million in fees over the first six years of the fund, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm has earned a 20 percent return since 2010, despite having invested only about half of its money so far.” http://nyti.ms/IGppmq

VEEPSTAKES—

MCDONNELL GETS THURSDAY TRYOUT: Virginia Gov. Bob“McDonnell, who endorsed Romney in January and campaigned with him during the primaries, plans to meet with the candidate for a fundraiser Wednesday night in Arlington before joining him for an event in the state the following day,” Yahoo’s Chris Moody reports. “McDonnell will not join Romney for his event scheduled Wednesday morning due to budget meetings in Richmond, sources with knowledge of the governor's plans said.” With an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal, the governor decries the way the federal government has prevented the Commonwealth from allowing offshore drilling: http://on.wsj.com/IDQEBH. Chris’ item: http://yhoo.it/JPgpRw.

HE’S RAISED $8.4 MILLION FOR HIS OWN PAC SINCE 2010: “Gov. Bob McDonnell has raised $8.4 million in donations in his first 27 months in office. That’s nearly identical to the amount -- $8.3 million -- raised by McDonnell’s predecessor, Timothy M. Kaine, at the same point in his term as governor, according to new analysis from the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in politics,” the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. “Unlike Kaine, however, the top contributor to McDonnell’s Opportunity Virginia PAC is the energy industry, which has donated $1.3 million, just north of the real estate and construction industry’s $1.2 million. McDonnell’s top donor is Pittsburgh-based Consol Energy, which has given $307,000.” This doesn’t count all the money he’s bringing in to the Republican Governors Association: http://bit.ly/Ja85Ix.

PAUL RYAN WOULDN’T MIND BEING VETTED: "I am not worried about that,” the Wisconsin congressman told ABC’s Jon Karl for his Yahoo show this week. Interviewed in the backseat of his Chevy Tahoe, Ryan also said he has "given up" on getting anything meaningful done this year in congress. Watch: http://yhoo.it/JBLJjO.

RUBIO ACKNOWLEDGES “MISTAKES” IN USING GOP CREDIT CARD: In a sit-down with Fox News’ Bret Baier, Marco Rubio addressed his ties to the Florida GOP scandal. “It was totally resolved years ago,” he said. “Now obviously, in hindsight, it looks bad, right? I mean, why are you using the party credit card at all? Well, some of these expenses were because a travel agent had the number — you know, the credit card number — and they billed it to that card instead of the other card. Sometimes, it was just a mistake. I just reached for the wrong card. The point is that, if I had to do it again, I'd be a lot more careful. And I am because, in politics, perception is often reality. But it's important people understand: I did not bill personal expenses to the Republican Party of Florida…Never.” Transcript:http://on.msnbc.com/Ja6rqe. Fox News has posted Baier’s full 34-minute interview with Rubio: http://bit.ly/Ko0cOk.

RUBIO WORKS BOTH SIDES ON DREAM ACT: Florida SenatorMarco “Rubio is working an odd-bedfellows coalition, ranging from hard-line anti-illegal immigration groups like Numbers USA to progressive leaders in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. And as he meets with Democrats, he is actively moving to head off a conservative rebellion, trying to curry support from the influential Heritage Foundation, religious leaders like Richard Land and tea party favorites like Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Jim DeMint of South Carolina, and Rep. Steve King of Iowa. But the rookie senator is already finding that building a coalition on a hot issue like immigration — in an election year, no less — is an incredibly tough slog…For now, both sides are reluctant to fully embrace his proposals.” http://politi.co/IShZAX

WALL STREET JOURNAL SAYS “INSIDERS BACKING PORTMAN FOR VP”: “Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio is the un-Palin of the Republican Party,” writes WSJ congressional correspondent Janet Hook (with Patrick O’Connor). “Mr. Portman has emerged in interviews as a favorite of party elders and GOP insiders. That groundswell may not influence Mr. Romney's final decision, but it speaks volumes about the mood of the party establishment as the general election campaign begins in earnest.” http://on.wsj.com/IRPqC3

The Columbus Dispatch, meanwhile, reports that donors tied to Portman in the Cincinnati area have given Romney a net fundraising edge over Obama in Ohio: http://bit.ly/JyOd45.

MCMORRIS RODGERS TELLS NATIONAL REVIEW SHE’S OPEN TO VP: “In an interview with [Bob Costa], the four-term Republican acknowledged that she’s open to the idea, but took care to note that she is not ‘seeking’ the nod. Romney, she says, should simply pick a conservative running mate — and if it’s a woman, all the better. ‘Republican women bring an important voice to the table,’ McMorris-Rodgers says…The highest-ranking woman in the House, the 42-year-old congresswoman has tea-party appeal: She’s pro-life, she voted against the bank bailouts, and she’s a longtime backer of a balanced-budget amendment. She also grew up on a farm, married a veteran, and has two children, including a son, Cole, who has Down Syndrome.” http://bit.ly/IpXbkk

“ANYONE BUT CONDI” – BRET STEPHENS PUSHES BACK ON VEEP BUZZ: A dayafter the Juan Williams piece, the Wall Street Journal columnist comes out strongly against Romney considering Condoleezza Rice: “Ms. Rice was a bad national security adviser and a bad secretary of state. She was on the wrong side of some of the administration's biggest internal policy fights. She had a tendency to flip-flop when it came to the president's core priorities and her political misjudgment more than once cost Mr. Bush dearly. She was a muddler of differences at the national security council. Her tenure at State was notable mainly for the degree to which the bureaucracy ran her, not the other way around.” http://on.wsj.com/IlTJZ9

SUNUNU POURS COLD WATER ON AYOTTE BUZZ: Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu quipped to reporters outside Romney’s Portsmouth rally yesterday, "I know that the bowl has about 19 or 20 little folded pieces of paper in it and they keep shaking the bowl.” He added: "Sen. Ayotte is a strong candidate on the list…On the negative side, she is from the Northeast, and you've got to recognize that it may be a negative if both candidates are from the same region." A blog post with the quote: http://politi.co/ISdt5q. Phil Rucker’s Washington Post story on the substance of Romney’s fishery speech: http://wapo.st/IiFH5n. ABC reports that Romney secretly dropped by a police station while in New Hampshire to pay respects to a killed police officer: http://abcn.ws/K2EN3o.

THE CORONATION –

RESTORE OUR FUTURE PULLS NEGATIVE PRIMARY SPOTS: Restore Our Future, the pro- Romney super PAC, has scrubbed its YouTube channel of all but two of its spots. Maggie Haberman: “The ones that are left are a contrast spot about Romney and President Barack Obama and one about Romney helping a Bain official search for a teenaged daughter who'd disappeared in New York City…ROF has been off the airwaves since the general election began in the past few weeks, after spending more than $35 million on spots in the primary. Officials declined to comment on when they're going back on the air again.” http://politi.co/IkhcpX

NEWT DEATH WATCH, DAY 48—EVENT WITH ROMNEY IN THE WORKS: “Gingrich won't appear with Mitt Romney when the former House speaker makes his scheduled official departure from the Republican race on Wednesday -- but such an event might happen soon,” CBS embed Sarah Huisenga reports. “Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said on Monday that the two camps are having discussions about a joint event in the near future. Both men are expected to be in Northern Virginia on Wednesday. Romney will hold a public event that morning in Chantilly, while Gingrich's farewell rally will likely be elsewhere in the area in the afternoon.” http://bit.ly/IkgCbH

RESPECT MUST BE PAID – SANTORUM SUBTLY ANGLES FOR CONVENTION ROLE: National Review’s Bob Costa raises the curtain on Romney’s Friday sit-down with Rick Santorum by talking to John Brabender. “Santorum will ‘not be walking in there with a list of 20 demands,’ Brabender says, but as the former senator’s chief adviser, he isn’t averse to spelling out how his candidate could be an asset on the trail. ‘I highly doubt that a convention speaking slot will be discussed on Friday,’ he says. ‘But from a consultant perspective, it’s clear that Rick fired up the base in state after state. He kept winning, even after he was ignored by the party hierarchy. It would be a logical benefit for the Romney people to have Rick play a major role at the convention.’” http://bit.ly/IkgCbH

RICK WANTS TO BE A PLAYER – SPEAKING AT TEXAS GOP CONVENTION: The Houston Chronicle reports that Santorum will speak at the Republican Party of Texas Convention in June. He’ll be the featured speaker at a gala, where the starting ticket price is $200. Romney is skipping the convention, citing a scheduling conflict. http://bit.ly/JPlCsN

PAUL STAYING IN – WON’T COMMIT TO BACK ROMNEY: “The news is very favorable to us,” Texas congressman Ron Paul said on Bloomberg TV. “We could even end up winning Iowa, ironically enough. In Minnesota, we're doing well, and Maine, Nevada and Missouri. We're doing very, very well. Some of the states we could very well win or come up very much because the delegate process is completely different than these straw votes…It's another month or so until they count all the delegates and we find out where we stand."

When Paul was asked whether he’ll endorse Romney: “If I disagree with every single thing in his platform, it's going to be tough. If it's 100% opposite on everything I have said on civil liberties, on war issues, on spending cuts, on monetary policy, what can I do? … To support somebody that might have 100% opposite views of mine would be difficult. Hopefully [Romney] sticks to his guns about not raising taxes." If monetary policy is your forte, watch Paul’s 20-minute debate with economist Paul Krugman (going viral overnight on the libertarian blogs): http://bloom.bg/IrVNzt.

SHOT – 81% OF ANTI-OBAMA ADS FOCUSED ON ENERGY: Bloomberg News reports that big energy companies are responsible for the vast majority of attack-ad spending so far this cycle: “In April, 16,991 negative ads aired in various parts of the country and 13,748 of them -- or 81 percent -- focused on energy…Americans for Prosperity, an organization backed by oil interests, last week began airing its third television commercial since November, a campaign worth $6.1 million, attacking Obama’s green energy policies…In total, in the first three months of 2012, the anti-Obama groups spent $16.7 million on negative ads on energy policy, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress.” http://bloom.bg/IlRRj7

CHASER – TOP EPA OFFICIAL RESIGNS AFTER “CRUCIFY” COMMENT: “The EPA [said] Monday that a regional administrator in Dallas, Al Armendariz, resigned after it was disclosed last week that he talked in a 2010 video of making an example out of those who violate the EPA's regulations,” the Washington Examiner reports. "It is kind of like how the Romans used to conquer villages in the Mediterranean," Armendariz said in the video, explaining the EPA's enforcement technique. "They'd go into a little Turkish town somewhere and they'd find the first five guys they saw, they'd crucify 'em, and that little town was really easy to manage for the next few years." Congressional Republicans still plan some kind of hearing or investigation: http://bit.ly/JZF6cq.

CHINA – OBAMA NOT YET TAKING PUBLIC POSITION ON CHEN: “Without specifically mentioning negotiations over blind activist lawyer Chen Guangcheng, President Obama on Monday urged China to do more to improve its record on human rights issues ‘because we actually think China will be stronger as it opens up and liberalizes its own system,’” The Washington Post’s Steve Mufson reports. “A confidant of Chen’s said U.S. diplomats have met with officials at the Chinese Foreign Ministry to try to hammer out an agreement on what to do about Chen before Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner arrive Wednesday morning. Chen escaped from house arrest in China last week and is reportedly in U.S. custody now.” Watch for this to explode as a 2012 issue: http://wapo.st/JyUjkW.

OHIO SENATE—MANDEL ROLLING OUT 2ND AD: Republican Josh Mandel will be out with a second ad Tuesday, called “Can't Push Us Around,” that features some of his Marine buddies from Iraq, his Drill Instructor from Parris Island and a hero of Josh's who stormed the beach at Normandy during WWII. It will run statewide for an extended period of time.

TEXAS SENATE FIRST LOOK – DEWHURST VIDEO SAYS CRUZ FLIPPED ON CHINA: Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, the frontrunner in the Republican Senate primary, is releasing a web video today that attacks Ted Cruz for flip-flopping on his position regarding Chinese currency manipulation. It notes that Cruz said last October that he would have voted against the Senate bill that sought to crackdown on currency manipulation but now says “we should pressure China to cease manipulating its currency.”Dewhurst has already been up with this ad criticizing Cruz for representing a Chinese tire conglomerate against American manufacturer Jordan Fishman: http://bit.ly/IDM7z4. Here’s the brutal new, 1-minute web ad: http://bit.ly/JAKy48.

NEW MEXICO SENATE—BALDERAS TO AIR FIRST AD: Hector Balderas, the underdog in the Democratic primary, will begin airing the first television ad of his Senate campaign this week. The bio spot highlights his upbringing in Wagon Mound and touts his record as State Auditor. “Most Senators don’t come from places like this, don’t grow up on food stamps, or become the first person from the village to earn a law degree,” a female narrator says. “But because Hector Balderas did, he understands the power of education in a way most Senators never will. As Auditor, Balderas stopped corrupt officials who stole from schools. As Senator, he’ll invest in our future again.” It ends with this sign-off: “I’m Hector Balderas, and I’m sponsoring this ad because I know education is the road to the middle class.” The buy size is not being disclosed. Watch: http://bit.ly/K2cLoA.

Republican candidate Heather Wilson released her first ad yesterday, a bio spot that talks about the lessons of leadership, responsibility and integrity that she learned in the military: http://bit.ly/Jyy0f8.

NORTH DAKOTA SENATE – DSCC IE ATTACKS BERG: The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee released its first independent expenditure ad of the cycle in North Dakota yesterday. It criticizes Congressman Rick Berg for doing things the “Washington Way”—singling out votes that the Democrats say hurt Medicare and farmers “while giving huge tax breaks to millionaires.” It ends with praise for Democratic candidate Heidi Heitkamp: “She’ll protect Medicare, and defend our farm and energy jobs. For Heidi, it’s always the North Dakota way.” Watch: http://bit.ly/KnTVSG.

WISCONSIN RECALL – WALKER RAISED $13 MILLION SINCE JANUARY: “Gov. Scott Walker raised an unprecedented $13.2 million since January to fight off the recall bid against him, far outdistancing his Democratic challengers and driving home the challenge they will have in beating the Republican incumbent,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. “Crisscrossing the country on fundraising trips, Walker has raised more than $25 million in total since January 2011 and has $4.8 million in cash on hand - numbers unlike any that have been seen for a political candidate in Wisconsin. His fundraising numbers dwarf what his Democratic rivals have raised and are almost on par with that of second-tier presidential candidates. For instance, Rick Santorum raised $18.5 million between Jan. 1 and March 31 and Newt Gingrich raised just under $10 million during that period.” http://bit.ly/IsvZDa

ARIZONA SPECIAL – DCCC AD SAYS KELLY WANTS TO KILL SOCIAL SECURITY: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee went up yesterday with the TV spot attacking Republican candidate Jesse Kelly in the June 12 special election to fill the remainder of Gabby Giffords’ term. “I’d love to eliminate the program,” a narrator quotes him saying of Social Security. The refrain (repeated over a picture of him looking young): “Is Jesse Kelly listening?” It also accuses him of wanting to cut Medicare and cut taxes in half for millionaires:http://bit.ly/JmSHGx.

DCCC WEB VIDEO – BOEHNER RIGHT THAT HOUSE IN JEOPARDY: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is releasing a new web video today that seizes on John Boehner’s comment last week that there’s a one-third chance Republicans lose their majority. It highlights video of talking heads (MSNBC cameo by Michael Steele) warning that the majority could be in danger. Then it ends with a video message from Steve Israel: “I hate to agree with Speaker Boehner on almost anything, but on this I agree: the House is in play,” he says. “But we’re not done yet: every dollar and every volunteer hour brings us closer to the majority.” Watch the 1-minute, 17-seconds: http://bit.ly/IpMz4T

NRCC TALKER – TOM COLE IN MIX TO SUCCEED PETER SESSIONS: “In a surprising turn, Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who was booted from the National Republican Congressional Committee by Boehner after a rough 2007-08 cycle, is suddenly back in the mix,” John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman report this morning. “Still, the conventional wisdom among top Republicans is that the post is Rep. Greg Walden’s for the taking. The Oregon Republican has a lot going for him: He’s a top NRCC deputy and, as the handpicked chairman of the Republican leadership team, is a confidant of Boehner’s. As speaker, Boehner has heavy influence in choosing the next NRCC chairman, though his selection has to be formally ratified by the entire Republican Conference as part of its leadership ticket…A number of GOP insiders think Georgia Rep. Lynn Westmoreland has a shot given his success at recruiting candidates in 2010 and raising large sums of soft money contributions for redistricting during this election cycle.” http://politi.co/IRLqBt

FLOTUS IN TUCSON LAST NIGHT – FROM THE POOL REPORT: "I know we are going to do it here because of people like you," Michelle Obama said about the President's chances in the Nov. 6 election in Arizona. She recognized Ron Barber: “He is going to do a fantastic job representing his district in Washington.” Giffords' mother, Gloria, was there.

FLORIDA HOUSE – NRCC RALLYING BEHIND RIVERA: “As he puts scandal behind him and draws not-so-threatening challengers, Rep. David Rivera appears to be getting back in the good graces of the National Republican Congressional Committee now that the chair, Pete Sessions, and Texas Rep. Jack Fields plan to headline a June 5 fundraiser for Rivera in Washington,” The Miami Herald’s Marc Caputo reports. “It's a turnaround from last July when the NRCC left Rivera's name off a high-profile fundraiser in Miami. Meantime, his longtime buddy and national Republican rock star, Sen. Marco Rubio, is helping him out…Rivera has been essentially drawn into a more Democratic-leaning district…Bottom line: this race is no gimme. But Rivera's in pretty good shape, considering all the hits he has survived.” http://bit.ly/Ja3FRP

MINNESOTA GOP – LAST-MINUTE DEAL PREVENTS EVICTION: “The top official with the Republican Party of Minnesota said they have averted eviction from the party’s St. Paul headquarters,” per the Star Tribune. “The announcement came the night before a scheduled eviction hearing in Ramsey County District Court. ‘We have reached a confidential agreement with our landlord, Hub Properties, that will allow us to fulfill our obligation to them,’ state party chairman Pat Shortridge said in a statement late Monday night. He said the GOP’s landlord will ask for a continuance at Tuesday’s hearing, which allow the time to finalize the agreement.” http://bit.ly/JKQtTq

RNC – FLORIDA GETS SHAFTED IN HOTEL ASSIGNMENTS: “The coveted hotel assignments for the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa are out, and Florida will be sent to the convention's version of Siberia,” The Tampa Bay Times’ Amy Hollyfield reports. “The Republican National Committee had vowed to give Florida lower priority for hotels as part of the punishment for state legislative leaders setting the presidential primary in January in violation of party rules. On Monday, the RNC Committee on Arrangements announced that the Florida delegation will be at the Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, nearly 32 miles from the Tampa Bay Times Forum. ‘I'm p---ed off,’ said Florida Republican Party Chairman Lenny Curry…Texas is at Saddlebrook Resort in Pasco County, New York is at the Hilton Clearwater Beach and California is at the TradeWinds Island Resorts on St. Pete Beach.” At the end of this post is a list of where each state will be: http://bit.ly/ICQmg8.

RNC DIGITAL – NEW FACEBOOK APP LAUNCHING TODAY: The Republican National Committee is launching the GOP Social Victory Center. From an advisory: “Simply by signing in through their Facebook accounts, users can find ways to volunteer in their local areas, make calls into battleground states, access exclusive news and multimedia from the RNC, find and create local political events, and engage with activists across the country.” They’re calling it a first-of-its-kind Facebook app that will help with political voter contact and messaging: http://bit.ly/KBxej8.

TWO PROFESSIONAL COMEDIANS helped the White House speechwriting staff prepare Obama’s Saturday routine (one writes for the Daily Show and the other has written episodes of the Simpsons): http://buswk.co/Ja5iyV.

JON HUNTSMAN spoke with students at Harvard. Here’s the Crimson’s color piece: http://bit.ly/JafA1V.

BO THE DOG appears in Obama web ads, a small part of Chicago’s plan to deploy him: http://wapo.st/JZQ3uw.

CODA – QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The minute he started joking about the president being too thin, believe me, I figured I was in the zone of danger.” – Chris Christie reacts to Jimmy Kimmel’s fat jokes at Saturday’s dinner http://bit.ly/IR3ETL